Good morning, fellow Koreans,

The weather has become quite cold. From today, I am wearing long underwear and a turtleneck instead of a dress shirt and a necktie. This makes it possible to further lower the room temperature. All civil servants have also been instructed to wear casual attire to save electricity during this winter.

Fellow citizens,

Last week, I attended the ASEAN+3 Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and returned home after the subsequent visit to the United Arab Emirates.

As the axis of the world economy is shifting toward East Asia, the importance of ASEAN is increasingly growing. With a membership of 10 Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, a total population of 700 million and a GDP of US$2.2 trillion, ASEAN has become a mega economic bloc.

Once ASEAN integrates production bases and consumer markets in a single economic community by 2015, it will be able to take full advantage of its boundless growth potentials.

For this reason, the Summit this time also turned into an arena where major powers like the United States, China and Japan fiercely competed. In 2009, the Korean Government made public the New Asia Initiative with a view to strengthening ties with ASEAN.

In 2009, following the conclusion of the Korea-ASEAN FTA, we hosted the Korea-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island, inviting the 10 heads of state from the ASEAN member countries. In 2010, the relationship between Korea and ASEAN was elevated to a strategic partnership, expanding bilateral ties into a greater variety of areas, including culture, education and security as well as the economy.

On the strength of these efforts, Korea ranked second following China in terms of trade with ASEAN, unseating the EU, Japan and the United States. Last year, Korea-ASEAN trade posted US$130 billion, a more than 65 percent spike from four years ago. It is forecast that trade will reach US$150 billion in two years. It is also noteworthy that Korea ranked second last year in the amount of overseas orders for construction projects and investment.

All this has been of great help for Korea to surmount the global crisis in the fastest and most successful fashion in the world. The US and European markets have slumped and the Chinese market is also slowing down because of the global economic crisis. Africa and Latin America remain as future markets. In this context, ASEAN is considered the only viable market that will be able to grow quickly right away.

It is believed that ASEAN will be able to boost our trade and inject vitality into our economy next year as well. Therefore, it is essential to enhance economic cooperation with ASEAN to live up to our goals of reaching US$2 trillion in trade and a per capita income of US$30,000 to US$40,000.

My fellow citizens,

Korea is the only country in the world to join the ranks of advanced nations after being one of the poorest nations in just the span of a generation following the end of the War. For this reason, many ASEAN member nations want to take Korea as their development model rather than advanced nations since they are in a similar situation as Korea was.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono once said to me that his country’s economic development goals are clear, which is to emulate what Korea has achieved up to now. Korea is already engaged in full-scale collaboration in many areas with Indonesia, which has a population of 250 million.

In the wake of serious floods last year, Thailand with a population of 70 million is carrying out a national project similar to Korea’s Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. Korea, China and Japan are now engaged in heated competitions to win a contract for the project that will begin in earnest early next year.

A week before I visited Thailand last time, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made a visit to the country. Last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also visited the country. That is the reason why I decided to visit Thailand.

In the past, about 90 percent of ASEAN was a market for Japan. As a matter of fact, Korea’s advance into ASEAN was quite belated, but it now has gone into full gear. The establishment of the ASEAN-Korea Centre in 2009 and the opening of the Korea-ASEAN Representative Office in Jakarta, Indonesia in September this year are significant in that connection.

My fellow Koreans,

After Cambodia, I visited the United Arab Emirates. The construction of Korean-type nuclear power plants 1 and 2 has begun in Baraka. I participated in that significant groundbreaking ceremony.

Looking back on the moment in 2009 when Korea was able to export its nuclear power plants for the first time by successfully wining the contract for the construction after fierce competition with France to the last minute, I still think it was something of a miracle. As I pressed the button to signal the beginning of the construction, I was filled with profound emotion and pride with bygone days crossing my mind.

Since it is a new challenge for the oil-producing nation to construct a nuclear power plant, UAE officials expressed their appreciation to us saying that their country is making a new beginning today.

The economic effects stemming from the winning of the contract for the construction are not confined to the construction costs worth US$20 billion. Over the coming 60 years, Korea will be in charge of operating the nuclear power plants. The operation expenses will stand at US$20 billion. For the operation, a total of 1,400 workers will be needed annually, which means that decent and stable job opportunities will be given to tens of thousands of job seekers over the next 60 years.

In the second half of next year, the UAE plans to place an order for four additional nuclear power plants, and the competition to obtain the order is already heated. France, Japan and other countries have begun all-out efforts to secure the order. That is why I visited the Middle Eastern country this time.

Fellow Koreans,

Over the past 40 years since the 1970s, Korea’s staple industries have been automobiles, steel, shipbuilding and electronic products. But we have to develop new growth engines in order to sustain growth in the future. Nuclear power plants are one of the core staples in the years to come.

The development of oil fields, in which Korea and the UAE have agreed to cooperate this time, has so far been open to a very limited number of advanced countries as well. On the occasion of my visit, Korea has been given a full opportunity to participate in it. When the enormous resources and financial capacity of the UAE are combined with Korea’s superb expertise, a great synergy will result.

During my stay in the UAE, Crown Prince Mohammed and I also decided to make a joint investment in third countries in the development of future food resources, considering the two countries both import a great proportion of their food.

We are living in Global Korea where diplomacy means the economy, and the economy means diplomacy.

The cabinet members as well as I have spent a lot of time and efforts in promoting economic cooperation with other countries. We were obliged to do so. That is the reason for my 49 overseas trips over the past five years. I have practically been forced to travel abroad.

As such my Administration has prepared new sources for the staples needed by the nation. I hope they will serve as firm stepping stones for the incoming Administration as the country continues to march toward a Greater Korea.

Fellow citizens,

Last Friday the nation marked the second anniversary of North Korea’s provocative shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. I went to the island last month and encouraged the brave marines who fought back at that time. Once more, I would like to take this opportunity to pray for the souls of the fallen soldiers and offer my heartfelt comfort to the wounded soldiers and their families.

As I looked toward the North, I reaffirmed my resolution that safeguarding the Northern Limit Line there is critical for the nation''s security and peace. There can be no viable economy without firm national security. Without it, the people will never have a comfortable life. We should resolve to advance the Republic of Korea consistently on the basis of solid national security.

Fellow Koreans, thank you very much.